NCIS Meets Manhattan SVU
by calalily
Summary: When a Marine’s wife is brutalized and his daughter is kidnapped, NCIS takes on Manhattan’s SVU to solve the case before she becomes even more of a victim. In response to a challenge on NFA.  Crossover with Law & Order SVU
1. Chapter 1

Challenge fic: NCIS Meets…..

In Response to the Challenge on NFA

**NCIS Meets Manhattan SVU**

Rated R for language and case details

Summary: When a Marine's wife is brutalized and his daughter is kidnapped, NCIS takes on Manhattan's SVU to solve the case before she becomes even more of a victim.

**Chapter 1**

Gibbs put the phone down. "Gear up. McGee, gas the car. Tony, get Abby up here." He started up the stairs to the Director's office.

"Where're we goin' boss?" Tony asked.

"New York," Gibbs said as he topped the stairs.

The three agents looked at each other and shrugged then went to do as they were told.

"What have you got?" Detective Fin Tutuola asked his partner.

Detective John Munch turned with his notepad in hand. "Female victim, assaulted, on her way to the hospital. Husband's overseas and her daughter is missing. Lanie Ness, 32, told the officers responding to the 911 call that there was a knock at her door. Mrs. Ness didn't recognize the man so she didn't answer. When the door knob was rattled, she sent her daughter to lock herself in her room. She called 911 and armed herself with a baseball bat. Says she got a good shot in on his shoulder before he took the bat from her and used her as a punching bag. When she came to, the cops were here and her daughter was gone."

Fin looked around. He spotted the family portrait over the fireplace. "Munch, look."

Munch nodded. "She fits the pattern of the other missing girls. Caucasian, 8 to 10 years old, red hair."

"If this is the same, we've got three days tops before we find her body somewhere." Fin said. "Let's go talk to the Captain."

Munch followed him out of the apartment holding a snapshot of the daughter in his hands. They would need it for bulletins and Amber alerts.

Fin and Munch arrived back at the precinct to find Captain Cragen in a meeting. "We've got another missing girl," Finn said then asked, "Who are they?"

Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler walked over to the board where Munch was taping Lael Ness's picture.

"We don't know. They walked in and went straight in the office with the Captain," Olivia said.

"They're NCIS."

Four sets of eyes turned to see a young woman with jet black hair pulled up into pigtails standing there. She wore red lipstick, a black t-shirt, plaid mini-skirt and knee-high platform boots.

Munch was skeptical…he was always skeptical. "How do you know?"

"I'm with them. My name's Abby Sciuto, Forensic Scientist for NCIS."

"You're a forensic scientist?" Elliot asked.

"Yes she is," an older man said from behind her.

The woman smiled. "It's ok Ducky. You know how most people react to me when we first meet."

"Yes, Abigail, but that doesn't excuse rudeness," the man she called Ducky said.

The four SVU detectives looked at each other. Elliot's words were lost as Captain Cragen opened his door and the four people in his office strode out.

Cragen came over to the board. "We've got help on this latest case," he told his detectives. "This is NCIS Special Agents Gibbs, DiNozzo, McGee and Officer David. They're going to help us with this and with any luck we'll find the missing girl and nail this perp before anything happens."

Special Agent Gibbs was staring at the picture of the latest kidnapped girl. His jaw clenched once before he began giving orders.

"McGee, Ziva, you two go to the hospital and talk to the mother. DiNozzo and I will examine the crime scene. We'll meet back here in a few hours. Abby, you get to their lab and see what you can do to rush whatever tests they are running. Ducky…"

"I know Jethro, talk to the local ME and see what has been determined about the previous victims."

Cragen looked at his team. "As I said, we'll be assisting on this. Olivia, go with the agents to the hospital. Elliot, you're with Agent's Gibbs and DiNozzo at the crime scene. Munch, take Ms. Sciuto to the lab."

"And I take Ducky to see the ME?" Fin asked.

Cragen nodded. "We've got less than three days people, let's move.

"So, how long have you been with NCIS?" Munch asked and Abby grinned.

"Going on eight years now." She saw the look on his face as he took in her state of dress. "They believe in allowing me to be comfortable as to enhance the productivity of my work."

With a small smile, Munch motioned for her to precede him out of the elevator.

"So how long have you been a cop?" she asked him as he led her down the hall to the lab.

"A lot longer than eight years," was Munch's reply. He opened the door for her and the tech on duty looked up.

"I don't have any results yet, Detective, we just got these samples."

"That's why I've brought you help. Evan, this is Abby, she's with NCIS and she'll be helping you process any and everything on the Ness case. Captain's orders."

Evan stared at Abby for a moment before her smile won him over. "Ok, nice to meet you Abby."

"What are you working on?" she asked him.

They started talking about evidence and Munch left them to their work.

Ducky was walking alongside Detective Tutuola and asked, "Are your friends upstairs always so quick to judge?"

Fin looked at the older man and frowned a bit. "We're detectives, Doc. We don't always keep on the sunny side of things. We mainly deal with dirtbags you wouldn't look twice at and we have a habit of looking at people with suspicion. Munch is always that way, looking for conspiracies and stuff. We don't mean to offend anyone, it just happens that way."

Ducky nodded. "Of course. Having worked with Abigail these past eight years I've become quite accustomed to her ways and quirks. It sometimes takes me a moment to remember why people look at her strangely."

Fin nodded. "Yeah, I get that with Munch a lot."

They entered the morgue and Fin cleared his throat. "Dr. Warner, this is …"

"Ducky!"

"Melinda! It is so wonderful to see you again. It's been what?"

"Three years since the last conference we were at together," Melinda Warner said.

"I finally get to work with you," Ducky said and then he frowned. "However, these aren't the best circumstances for that to happen."

Melinda smiled. "I know what you mean Ducky, but really with what we do, is there really a time where the circumstances are good?"

Ducky looked at Fin and smiled once more. "She's quite smart you know?"

"Yeah and we're thankful for it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"We haven't been able to talk to the mother much yet." Detective Benson filled in Agent McGee and Officer David. "She was in and out of consciousness most of the time from the beating she took. Strong woman."

Ziva nodded. "Yes, she would have to be. Her husband is a Marine."

Detective Benson looked at her and McGee offered an explanation. "With her husband away, she has to stay behind keeping everything else going. She wouldn't just let things go because her husband isn't there."

Detective Benson nodded in agreement. "All the families of all our troops are strong people."

"Yes." Ziva agreed. 

Arriving at the hospital, the nurse at the front desk was shown three badges as all three requested to speak to Mrs. Lanie Ness. Typing in the information, the nurse responded, "She's in room 335."

Taking the elevator to the third floor, Ziva took the lead coming out and rounded the corner to find a nurse coming out of Mrs. Ness' room.

"We need to see Mrs. Ness," Ziva told the nurse.

With an apologetic look, the nurse told them, "I just gave her a dose of pain medication. She'll be going to sleep soon."

Ziva brushed past the nurse and entered the room. Mrs. Ness was propped up against the pillows, the affects of the medication already beginning to show. Approaching the bed, Ziva touched the woman's hand. "Mrs. Ness, I'm Officer David with NCIS."

Mrs. Ness's eyes teared up. "Have you found Lael yet?"

"Not yet, but we will. I have a few questions for you."

Nodding slowing, obviously in pain, she told Ziva, "Anything, anything to find my little girl."

"I know this is hard, but I need to know if you remember ever seeing the man that broke into your apartment before?"

"No, never..." her voice trailed off and her eyes cleared as she stared at Ziva. "Wait, maybe..."

"Yes?"

"We love blue cheese, Lael and I. We order it at the deli. I may have seen him around there?"

"What deli do you order this from?" 

"Jerard's. It's the best deli in the city to get Stilton blue cheese."

Her eyes were drifting closed and Ziva made to move away from the bed. "Please find her."

Ziva turned to see McGee and Detective Benson staring at the other woman with sorrow in their eyes.

"Come on, we have to go to the deli and see how long they keep their surveillance tapes." 

"If they keep them," Detective Benson said.

"And if they are good quality," McGee added.

-------

Tony and Gibbs stepped into the apartment and Tony let out a whistle. "Nice place for a Marine's family." Realizing what he said, he looked at Gibbs. "I mean..."

"Get to work DiNozzo."

"Yes boss."

Gibbs stared up at the huge family portrait. Yes, the Ness's had money. It came from the husband's side, Gibbs knew. He also knew that John Ness wouldn't let family money keep him from serving his country. He noticed Detective Stabler carefully going through the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. Gibbs walked into the little girl's bedroom and closed his eyes. He could almost hear Kelly in here. Opening his eyes, he could definitely see that Lael had her own personality and was showing it through her room. The signs of struggle didn't take away from the artwork she had on her walls. It hadn't disturbed the stack of stuffed animals on her toy chest either.

Staring at one bear in particular, he walked closer, leaning down to look into the bears eyes.

"I got nothing, boss," DiNozzo said as he appeared in the doorway. "You find something?" 

"This has a camera in it."

Laughing, Tony asked, "How would you know?"

"I saw this bear on the news, DiNozzo. It has one of those cameras for parents who spy on their nanny's." Gibbs told him, looking for the world that he wished he hadn't admitted knowing that.

"Wonder where the video feeds to?" Tony asked.

"I found something!" Detective Stabler called from the family room of the apartment.

Gibbs and DiNozzo entered the room to see him holding up DVD's in his hand. "These were in the mantle. Crime scene guys weren't looking for secret hiding places, I guess." 

Gibbs frowned and noticed Stabler wore the same expression. "Let's see what we've got."

They put one DVD in and realized Mrs. Ness had used the teddy bear cam to get spontaneous home videos of her daughter. Near the end of the first DVD, she appeared in front of the bear, smiling. "Hope you enjoy this, John. Everytime I take the camcorder out, Lael gets all shy, but she doesn't know I'm recording her for you. I love you honey. May God keep you safe till you're back home with us." Pressing her fingers to her lips, she blew a kiss to the camera.

Turning off the DVD and putting it back in it's case, Tony looked at Gibbs. "We need to know if that thing was on earlier today."

"We also need to know where it feeds to DiNozzo."

Stabler was checking the report of equipment listed from the log earlier that day. "There is a DVD Recorder in the master bedroom and a computer with a DVD RW drive in the study."

"Bag 'em both DiNozzo. I want to see this bastard!"

------- 

The two teams, as it was, returned to the station at the same time. Gibbs called for Abby and Munch called for Evan. The two forensic scientists arrived, chattering about something. Gibbs was about to interrupt when Abby stopped talking and looked at him. "We found something." Abby looked as if she was reaching for the remote then she remembered they weren't in their office. "These are photos taken at each scene of abduction."

"What are we looking at here?" Munch asked, studying the pictures closely.

"All eight girls, including Lael Ness had a huge collection of stuffed animals. They also have these bears tucked in their collection." Abby pointed to a bear nearly obscured by the others in every photo. "Look at the paw of the bear." She posted enlarged images of each bear paw.

"So they say 2007? So what?" Fin asked.

"So these are Christmas bears. Made to be displayed this year at Christmas. There was a break-in at a warehouse where tons of these bears were stored. Two boxes of bears were taken and there are twelve bears in each box. The break-in was right before the first abduction."

Gibbs eyes grew colder and the NY detectives were glad he wasn't there boss. Even Munch stayed silent as the NCIS agent cursed low. "Get those bears..."

"We already have bears from the first four homes. No evidence was found on them. We have techs going to collect the others. When I know something, you'll know something Gibbs." Abby stared at him solemnly until he nodded. "You have something for us?" She asked.

"Video." Gibbs and Ziva said at the same time. Gibbs pointing at the DVD recorder and computer while Ziva held up the surveillance tapes from the deli.

"Ok, I'm gonna need McGee then Gibbs. He can work the computer while I take the recorder and Evan does the video." 

"McGee..."

"On it boss." McGee said and helped carry the equipment to the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Captain Cragen came out of his office. "Just got a call. A woman on the hot line said she may have information about the man doing this. They want to transfer her here. Olivia, I want you to take the call."

Benson nodded and picked up her desk phone as it rang. Listening for a moment as the hot line operator informed the called of the transfer, Olivia then spoke. "Ma'am? My name is Detective Olivia Benson and I would like to hear what you have to say."

Grabbing a pen and notepad, she motioned for them to start tracing the call. Gibbs looked around but McGee had gone down to help Abby and Evan. Ziva ran to trace the call. 

"You're stepbrother?" Olivia was saying. A look of concern softened her face as she asked, "How old were you? Eight. Would you be willing to come in and talk with us? No, you don't have to but it might help us to ... right." Gibbs scratched a note down over her shoulder. She read it and nodded. "We'd be willing to send a car over to pick you up. Unmarked." Olivia wrote quickly and showed a note to Gibbs. _She wants to know why we need to talk to her so badly._

Gibbs wanted to take the phone. Instead he wrote a note back and Olivia nodded once more. "We've had another girl go missing this morning. We need help if we're going to find her alive. Please, would you help us?" Writing again, Olivia handed the address to Gibbs. "We're sending someone over right now. It won't take them long to get there. Would you stay on the line until they do?" 

As Olivia kept talking to the woman, Gibbs grabbed Stabler and gave him the address. "You drive."

The two men ran to the elevators, both hoping this would be the break they needed.

-------

Serena Johnson sat in the interrogation room while her husband Scott stood on the other side of the glass. "You don't have to stay in here," Elliot told the man.

He shook his head. "She's my wife. I love her, Detective Stabler. I'm not leaving her to go through this alone." 

-------

Gibbs walked into the interrogation room and sat a bottle of water down for Mrs. Johnson. He sat and stared at her for a few moments, taking in the red hair that he first noticed when they arrived at her home. The eyes, blue, were clear at the moment but he sensed the emotions rolling under the surface. "Mrs. Johnson..."

"Call me Serena, Agent Gibbs. I always feel as if I'm Scott's mother when people call me Mrs. Johnson." With a sad smile at her attempt to lighten the atmosphere, she stated quietly, "You want to know what happened to me as a child and why I think Richard is the one doing this."

"Yes, I do." Gibbs said quietly.

"There's another little girl missing isn't there? That's what Detective Benson said. That a girl was taken this morning." She pulled a photo from her purse. "All these little girls gone missing and until the bulletin last night, I refused to believe it was him. He couldn't be out. Then I realized all the girls looked a lot like I did." Turning the picture around, she showed Gibbs the girl she had once been.

The only outward sign of his reaction was a slight flare of his nostrils as he inhaled sharply. "Tell me about Richard, Serena, please." 

"He was fourteen when my mother married his father. I was almost eight." Her eyes looked beyond Gibbs, beyond the glass and her husband, further than the police station. She looked back at her past and continued. "Richie, that's what we all called him then. He didn't like me being around. He didn't like my mom taking his dad's attention. I wasn't eight yet, but everyone told me I was smart. I could see that he hated my mom and resented me. I was playing with my Barbie dolls after my birthday party and looked up to see him standing in the door of my bedroom staring at me. I didn't know why he was looking at me like that but I didn't like it. A few nights later, my mom and stepdad went out for dinner. Mom wanted to get a babysitter but Richie's father insisted he was old enough to watch over me. They left and Richie smiled at me. It wasn't a nice smile; it scared me. I went to my room but before I could close my door, he was there. He pushed it open and he grinned. He stepped in my room and I watched as he closed the door behind him. I couldn't move, not until he touched me. He put his hands on my arms and I started fighting. I knew whatever he wanted wasn't good. I had to get away from him. I couldn't. He..."

Serena broke then and started crying. Jumping in her chair when Gibbs gently touched her hand, the sympathy in his eyes brought her back to the present. Taking the handkerchief he held out, she wiped her eyes. Clenching her teeth for a moment, she looked away then met his gaze head on. "He molested me. For five months, until I realized he was lying and that my mom _would_ listen to me. I told her what was happening. She talked to his father and he had Richie committed. We tried therapy but I wouldn't talk to the doctor. I didn't like him. He made me feel like it was my fault. She didn't make me go again. Things fell apart in my mom's marriage. They divorced. Mom moved us away, decided we needed a fresh start. She changed our names and gave us a whole new life. I met Scott my freshman year of college. I knew when he asked me out that I would have to get help for myself if I wanted to have a relationship with him."

Gibbs smiled at her, a kind smile and the detectives were surprised to see that he had a softer side to him. "You are a very smart and very courageous woman, Serena. I have to ask you, what is Richard's last name?"

"Moore, Richard Moore."

There was a knock on the door and as one, the detectives turned to see who was interrupting their case. Abby walked into the room and smiled gently at Serena before handing Gibbs two pictures. Signing to him that these were the clearest images they could get, she stepped towards the door. Gibbs signed for her to stay.

"Serena, if I were to show you a picture of the kidnapper, could you tell me if it's Richard or not?" 

Sitting straighter in her chair, she nodded. The pictures were shown to her and her tears flowed freely once more. Serena was nodding. "It's him. He's older but it's him. I should have known. I should have noticed this earlier. I'm so sorry. All those little girls."

Abby rushed to hug her. "This is not your fault. You didn't know it was him."

Serena was startled for a moment and then she sagged in Abby's arms. Sobbing, she held the Goth woman tightly as she cried for herself and the other victims Richard had claimed.

-------

After Scott led his wife downstairs to be taken home, Dr. Huang made some phone calls to find out about Richard Moore.

"He was released from the institute nine months ago. His father died a year ago. Apparently Richard was perceived as a threat to himself and others until then. Three months after his father died, his file was up for review and the board saw promise in him that he could be rehabilitated. They decided he was fit to be released on the condition that he would continue outpatient therapy three times a week. He's been absent for those sessions for the past month." Huang paused before going on. "From what Serena has said, his abuse of her most likely stemmed from his resentment of her intrusion on his life. He saw it as if they were taking his father away from him. He lasted for nearly eight months before starting this pattern. I believe that he was out somewhere and spotted the first girl that reminded him of Serena. Since then, he's searched for other victims that remind him of her at that age in his life. She is no longer an eight year old girl that he can easily overpower. But these girls don't give him the same satisfaction that his control over Serena did at that time. Also, he let Serena live and he was put away for nearly 17 years. Either of those reasons alone would be enough for him to kill these girls."

Gibbs stared at the clock, listening to the psychiatrist while watching time slip away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Day Two**

In the early morning hours, a man clearly fatigued and very troubled walked into the hospital. With sad eyes, he quietly asked the receptionist for a patient's room number. Walking determinedly towards the elevators, it wasn't until the doors slid shut that he let his shoulders sag with the weight of his worries. Only by himself did he show weakness. He was a Marine and he was stronger than that - most times. He stepped off the elevator once again fully upright. No dents in his armor were visible other than the fatigue and lines of worry he couldn't hide around his eyes. Ignoring the nurse, he stepped into the hospital room and stared at his beautiful wife, bruises covering her face.

Lanie turned to look at him and whispered, "John."

That was all he needed. Quickly moving to the bed, he sat and hugged her tightly to her chest. When he heard her intake of breath he eased his hold on her. She traced his face with her hands and fell apart. Sobbing into his shoulder, he held her until her shaking stopped.

"Let's get you out of here and go see what the detectives and agents have found so far," John said, helping her to stand.

Lanie nodded and with his help she dressed. They informed the nurse of what they were doing and she delayed them only long enough to get them to sign paperwork saying she was leaving against medical advice.

-------

Ziva stepped over to Gibbs. "Mr. Ness has been to the hospital. It is too early in the morning for the doctors to make rounds, so the on-duty nurse says that they are releasing Mrs. Ness against medical advice. I think we should be expecting them soon."

Looking in the direction of the bank of elevators, Gibbs tilted his head in their direction. "More like now." Gibbs walked over to the couple and shook John's hand and helped him get Lanie settled in a chair.

"What have you got Agent Gibbs?" John asked.

Quietly, Gibbs went over the evidence with John Ness. Turning to Lanie, he told her, "We're going to find Lael and bring her back to you. I promise you that."

Tony and Ziva shared a look with the New York detectives wondering how Gibbs knew for certain they'd find her in time.

-------

"Boss, I've mapped the sites where the other girls have been found." McGee ran in with his laptop. The Ness's were in an interrogation room so they'd be close if any news came in.

"We've done that," Munch told him and pointed at the map.

"Yes, but I've calculated the distances between the points. Based on the teddy bear thefts, if he plans on twenty four victims, this is a layout of his potential area. If he follows his pattern and since it's been found that the first seven girls were killed in the location he kept them in, he's somewhere in this five mile radius." McGee showed them all the screen and Gibbs' and Munch's eyes narrowed.

"No way to narrow it down, Probie?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"Of course there is," Abby said from behind them. Moving to the laptop, her fingers flew over the keyboard. "Taking into account the types of places the other girls were found, we eliminate all the places that don't fit. Lucky for us, he's particular and he likes smaller locations that are a little bit away from everything else around it, we now have only fifteen possible locations instead of hundreds." Turning around, she beamed at McGee then gave the addresses out.

Teams were assembled between the NCIS agents and the detectives and extra officers were called in. Munch and Fin, Benson and Ziva, Tony and Tim, Gibbs and Stabler each took 3 locations. Captain Cragen was strapping on a vest and commanding the extra officers. "We'll take the last three locations."

Gibbs stared at the Captain then nodded his agreement. "We keep our communications quiet. We don't want to spook Moore if he's monitoring police radio. All locations that have been cleared will be called back to Abby by phone. Abby will keep me informed of what's going on. Let's go."

The five teams moved out as one and Abby stood watching them leave, worrying for the little girl they were searching for as well as the men and women heading out the building. Narrowing her eyes at the picture of the killer, she muttered, "Watch out. We're coming for you."

-------

Munch and Fin reached their first location and searched it quickly and quietly. Calling Abby, they reported that it was all clear. She made sure they had checked the crawl space then marked it off, waiting for the next team to call in. Tim was next, telling her their first location, making sure there wasn't any surprises with the floor plans and he and Tony cleared it. Marking it off the list, Abby took a call from Ziva.

"Our first location is clear Abby. Nothing has been here in a while." Ziva told her.

"Ok, gotta go. Got Munch on the other line."

Taking their call, she marked off yet another location. Staring at the map, she was wondering why Cragen or Gibbs hadn't called in, when they both called at the same time. Picking up the calls at the same time, she had a three way discussion marking off their first locations and filling Gibbs in on the ones that had been cleared. She knew he was upset when he said "thanks" before hanging up on her.

Within hours they had only three buildings left to search. Abby had run Tim's calculations three times while waiting and checked her data twice as much. From his pattern and the psych profile provided by Dr. Huang and Ducky, this had to be right. Pacing in front of the board, she jumped when the phone chirped from the desk. Grabbing it quickly, she put it to her ear and listened. "Get DiNozzo and McGee down here now. They've finished searching."

Abby circled the location on the map and asked, "What about Ziva and Olivia? They just cleared their third building."

"Do it Abby."

This time Gibbs hung up without a word. Calling the two teams, she crossed her fingers that they would find Lael Ness in time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Gibbs and Stabler were making another perimeter sweep. They were waiting for the other teams to arrive before entering the building. It was a one-story metal structure that spanned most of the lot. When the two men arrived at the location, they had heard a faint tapping noise as they reached the building. Listening, they made out the SOS and Gibbs had called for back-up. Not knowing what or who they would find inside and not taking the chance that barging in would endanger Lael if she was in there, they started a perimeter sweep. While trying to locate which part of the building the noise was coming from and clear as much of the building from the outside as possible, they made two sweeps before determining that the tapping was coming from a central room near the rear of the building.

Gibbs' phone vibrated and he flipped it open. "Yes?"

Ziva's voice was quiet as she told him, "I'm sending Detective Benson down to you. As soon as I do a perimeter sweep of the outer area, I'll be down as well."

Gibbs looked off in the direction of the trees surrounding the lot and turned to see Olivia Benson driving up to their car. "Make it quick but thorough."

"Always." 

Closing his phone, he walked over to where Stabler and Benson were talking. Benson looked at him. "We're waiting for your other team and Officer David?"

Nodding once, he told her, "Stabler and I will take the rear entrance. You and Ziva will go in the front." Turning to include DiNozzo and McGee who had just arrived, "You two will take the side entrance." 

Elliot added, "Those are the only doors in that we've seen unless there's an entrance on the roof. There aren't any stairs going to it though, so we think that's unlikely."

Ziva walked out of the trees. "The area is clear. There were footprints leading away from the area but nothing towards the building."

Moving into position the three teams made ready to enter the building.

-------

He was pacing in his room. Years trapped inside a cage and you would think he'd prefer to be out in the open not in a confined space. But those years in that cage had also made him worse. Paranoia was now a constant companion, it never left him, and so he left the girl to come here and collect himself. He couldn't end what he had begun if he was shaking too badly to finish the job and looking over his shoulder didn't help. Pacing back and forth, back and forth, he made himself remember. Ava, now known as Serena, her red hair and blue eyes. The fear and repulsion when he had touched her. The satisfaction of controlling her with her fear even for a short few months still sent a thrill through him. His shaking lessened as he remembered his father's face when he confronted him with the story. At first, he had simply stared at the man. Slowly, he started grinning, the same grin that little Ava saw every night he came to her. His father had hit him, then locked him in his room and called a place. Not too very long after that, he had been escorted quietly from his father's house and into a van. From the van into a building and from there to a small room. It wasn't padded but it was close enough.

The anger he had felt then was as strong today and it radiated from the center of his being until his shaking stopped completely. Turning to the small area where he ate, he fixed a sandwich for himself and ate it as he thought about the ways this new girl would pay for his father's betrayal and Ava's inability to remain quiet. One thing he was certain of, dead little girls only carried tales so far and that wasn't far enough to lead the police to his door.

------- 

Gibbs and Stabler were searching the rear of the building. They could hear the tapping still and it was growing louder with each room they passed. They could also hear the whispered 'clears' from the other teams. Stopping outside a door, the men looked at each other as the tapping was now very loud and they could also hear a slight whimpering from the room. Examining the door, Gibbs eased it open and the sight that met his eyes made tears well in them. Little Lael Ness was strapped down on a bed. The thin mattress barely enough cushion against the metal frame. She was dressed but her clothes were unkempt and he wanted to kill that bastard Moore. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hand was continuously tapping the SOS her father no doubt had taught her sometime in the past. Putting his hand up to Stabler, the other man was still as Gibbs walked to the bed. 

Easing himself down beside the bed, he first loosed her feet then her hands but she remained locked in the position she was tied in. Whispering at a level that only Lael could hear at the distance, Gibbs told her she was safe now.

At the sound of a voice different than that of the man who had taken her, Lael's eyes flew open and met the eyes of a man she trusted above almost everyone else. She threw herself at him and he rocked back, holding her against his chest, rubbing his hand up and down her back in a soothing gesture. He was murmuring to her, "Everything's going to be ok. I'm here now. I won't let him hurt you anymore."

She squeezed her arms around his neck and nodded against his shoulder. "I was praying you would come. Daddy's not home but I knew you could find me. I knew it!"

Stabler was in the doorway wondering what Gibbs' connection to Lael Ness was when the others walked up and Tony made the call to Abby that Lael had been found. Gibbs stood, holding the girl in his arms and walked by them and out into the sunlight. He motioned with his head for Stabler to drive and he climbed in the back of the car.

"Ziva, hide your car," he told her, not needing to say anymore.

Ziva looked at him and nodded. Waiting until they drove off, she asked Tony, "Do you think ...?" Tony stared at her for a moment and she shrugged. "If he resists?"

Grimly, Tony answered, "If he resists."

Benson had remained quiet through the whole exchange. Knowing that Ziva was a Mossad officer, she secretly hoped the son of a bitch would try to resist. "I'll move the car and wait for you."

"I'll get rid of the tracks and go back to the room Lael was in." 

McGee and DiNozzo walked towards their car. "We'll be waiting as well. You are one hell of an agent, Ziva, but we aren't going to underestimate this bastard." Tony slipped into the driver's seat while McGee held Ziva's gaze.

"Thank you, McGee."

As the three moved their cars into place, Ziva quickly got rid of the evidence that anyone had been around the building. Walking into the room where Lael had been held, she closed the door and waited. She tried to calm herself so that she wouldn't kill Moore when he walked in.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Elliot pulled the car up to the front of the hospital. He had already notified Captain Cragen that Lael Ness had been found. The captain had returned to the station to pick up her parents and bring them to the hospital. Gibbs had buckled the girl in and sat with his arms around her the entire ride. Elliot heard him explaining the reason for the trip to the hospital, he saw the small girl shudder and nod her head. She asked Gibbs about a boat and he watched the older man smile before he starting talking about the work he was doing to finish a sailboat. Again, the suspicion that Gibbs was more to her than a just an aquaintence settled in Elliot's gut. Narrowing his eyes, he decided to get to the bottom of this.

-------

At the hospital, a nurse took Lael into the examination room and her mother went in with her. Gibbs was talking to John Ness. The doctor walked into the examination room. Everyone noticed this and seeminly held their breath to see exactly how far this monster had taken his sick game. John started to walk into the room and Gibbs shook his head.

"You'll see her soon, but you don't need to be in there right now," Gibbs told him.

Shaking off the restraining hand, John paced back to the other side of the room. Hearing the door open, he whipped around. Silently he strode up to the doctor and glared at him. The doctor swallowed hard before telling him, "From what your daughter has told me and from the exam I just completed, she was touched and fondled but there was no penetration."

The doctor didn't say what everyone was thinking, that Richard Moore just hadn't gotten that far yet. John nodded at the doctor. "I can go in now."

It wasn't a question and the doctor knew this. Opening the door for the father, the doctor stepped away to talk to the agent and detectives in the waiting area.

-------

Ziva paced softly in the little room. She had turned her phone to silent and was listening for sounds outside and watching for any messages across the screen telling her that Moore was outside. They didn't want to chance that Moore would suspect he'd been caught and since there was no record of him renting anyplace in the city they'd just have to wait for his return. Several hours had already passed by since Lael had been rescued. No news of them finding her had been leaked to the press and none would since Gibbs was in control of everything.

Looking at the time on her phone, Ziva realized it was late afternoon now. It would be dark soon. The feeling that he would wait until dark to finish what he started wouldn't go away. Ziva sat on the bed. Pacing would only keep her mind occupied for so long and it hadn't been working this past hour. All the details of the previous cases and of what Serena Johnson had told them kept running through her mind. Smiling to herself, she knew that Moore would resist, at least her report would say that. Knowing that Tony and Tim would give her several minutes before coming in and that Olivia would follow their lead, she started planning.

-------

Gibbs sat quietly in the waiting area. Abby and Ducky had joined them at the hospital and Abby had fallen asleep with her head leaning on his shoulder. Dr. Huang was in the room with the Ness family and had been in there for some time. Ducky assured him that Lael's willingness to talk about things was a good sign and that she would recover from this ordeal. Gibbs watched Elliot Stabler watching him and nearly smiled. Knowing what the man wanted to know brought him near to laughing. He wondered when Stabler would ask him. Turning to look down at Abby, he smiled finally. She had worked so hard on this case, on every case but particularly this one. She knew how important it was to get Lael back unharmed and she had come through it like a trooper. Deprived of her Caf-Pows since New York didn't seem to know what they were, she had been running for two days on the "puny amounts of caffeine in a Coke". Remembering how she looked when she told him those very words, he laughed quietly, shaking her head off its perch.

Blinking, Abby looked up at him. "What's up Gibbs?"

Shaking his head, he signed to her, 'You are amazing.'

Smiling, still sleepy, she signed, 'Thank you,' and put her head back on his shoulder to sleep.

-------

Muscles tensed and readied for fighting as the door knob to the room turned. Not hiding from him, Ziva was to the left of the door as Moore walked in. She kicked out and swept him off his feet. He looked up, dazed and surprised at her as she informed him that he was under arrest. As he tried to get up, she moved behind him, restraining him by the neck. Keeping the pressure consistent, she told him, "I could kill you right now and be done with you. With this pressure, you'll pass out in minutes and if I keep the hold, you'll die from lack of oxygen getting to your brain." Tightening the hold more she continued, "I could simply snap your neck and say you were resisting arrest. The world would be rid of you and the children would have peace. But you need to suffer more than that. You deserve to go to prison. They'll like you there." Ziva laughed as she felt him start to go limp. Letting go, she slipped the handcuffs on him as she heard three sets of footsteps coming up behind her.

Dragging him up by the cuffs fastened around his wrists. Ignoring his muffled cry of pain, she shoved him towards the door. Telling Olivia to read him his rights, she left them there and walked outside to calm down, the urge to severely damage Moore still making her tense.

------- 

Back at the hospital, Gibbs got word that Moore had been caught. The police department was preparing a statement for the press and Ziva, Tony and Tim were on their way to the hospital to pick up Gibbs, Abby and Ducky. Lael was discharged from the hospital and walked out of her room, holding tightly to her mother and father's hands. Seeing Gibbs she let go and ran to him once more. Wrapping her small arms around his neck in a bear hug, she said, "Thank you for finding me Uncle Jethro."

Gibbs smiled through his tears and hugged her back. "You knew I'd come for you Lael. I'm there whenever you need me."

Lael nodded against his neck. "You have to go home now?"

Swallowing hard, he tightened his hold on his niece that so reminded him of his Kelly. "Yes, I do. I'm coming for a visit in three weeks though, remember?"

Lael pulled away to look up at him. "Of course I remember! You'll be here for my birthday party!"

"Yes I will," he promised and kissed her forehead. Handing her over to John, he shook his hand.

"Thank you for finding her Jethro."

"You're welcome John."

Lanie couldn't hold back. She threw her arms around her brother-in-law and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much Jethro!" She let him go and looked up at him as she took John's hand. "Shannon was always so proud of you."

Looking away from her, Gibbs blinked for a moment. He felt a hand on his chin and turned to look back at Lanie. "You're still that man Jethro. You're still the same person she loved. You've only grown more determined as the years have passed."

Impulsively hugging her, Gibbs told her, "Thank you, Lanie."

She smiled at him when he released her and he watched them walk out the waiting room.

"Your niece?" Stabler asked.

Giving him the stare that shut his agents up, Gibbs stayed silent.

Clapping the other man on the back, Stabler told him, "One, you're a hell of an agent and you did a good job here. Two, that look doesn't work on me." 

Laughing as Ziva, Tim and Tony came into the room, Gibbs shook Stabler's hand. "You're a hell of cop, Stabler. If you ever want to change that to agent, let me know."

-The End-

-Calalily- 


End file.
